Brazil has alarming rates of depression and anxiety and churches need to talk about it

RSS feed

On Sunday, rapper Preacher Luo said in his social networks that he was suffering from depression, an increasingly common problem in the global society and also in Brazil, which according to the World Health Organization (WHO ) ranks fifth in the country with more cases of the disease.

Surveys revealed that 9.3% of Brazilians suffer from anxiety disorders and that depression affects 5.8% of the population. Data such as these should not go unnoticed, they are health problems that require special attention. This is what is called the "silent evil" which is unfortunately still shrouded in prejudice and lack of information.

For a long time, the evangelical church has treated these problems as "the fault of God" and what we see today are more and more cases of depressed pastors and increasing numbers of suicides every year.

It is important to say that depression and anxiety are problems of biological, psychological and social origins, factors that can cause changes in brain function such as the lack of neutrameters responsible for feeling good. -being, as well as the alteration of the activity of neural circuits of the brain.

Among the physical symptoms of depression are persistent feelings of sadness or loss of interest in daily activities, sleep changes, changes in appetite, changes in energy levels, lack of concentration, low self-esteem, etc.

"Individualism and lack of personal relationships – where there are emotional exchanges – are factors that contribute to the increase of depression and anxiety in the population," says Livingston Claudia. Ades, psychobadyst in clinical psychology at PUC-SP and member of Zenklub.

According to the WHO, depression is the leading cause of death by suicide, with about 800,000 cases a year. In addition to depression, the organization says that around the world, 264 million people suffer from anxiety disorders, an average of 3.6%. The number is up 15% from 2005.

"Anxiety is an important warning sign of danger, however, when it is chronic, it becomes worrying," reinforces the psychobadyst. "In Brazil, in particular, we are undergoing changes in In several areas, the Brazilian has developed a state of alert because he lives constantly in fear. Fear of violence, unemployment, uncertainty and other factors. "Complete Claudia Livingston.

Anxiety is a body reaction coming from the autonomic nervous system when we face situations that bring us fear and stress, but anxiety disorder becomes a serious health problem that can generate other diseases like panic syndrome.

Depression and anxiety are health problems and require medical advice. "Taking a therapy is essential for the person to get in touch with what they feel.The practitioner reacts, manages to name what she feels and thus encourages the person to pay more attention to it. and her reactions and physical causes, when she has an outside nuisance, she will react properly and will not ignore, preventing the image from getting worse "," You can not ignore your emotions, you must be aware of how you feel. "

Talking about these issues in churches and leading believers to get medical help is already something that many denominations have done. Some of them still offer free consultations with psychiatrists and psychologists to serve the local community.